Holy freakin’ crap. In what looks to be a first for the nascent field of guerilla marketing, the man hired to execute a buzz campaign has been arrested as a terror suspect. The Boston Globe (registration required) has the story: The man who sent city and State Police rushing to defuse what they believed were […]

People in Boston freaked out today because of a guerrilla marketing campaign on behalf of Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Reuters has more details, too. What’s really interesting is that right now, as of 7:00 PM EST, the agency responsible for this, Interference, Inc. has yanked their website down. A Google search identifies the […]

A new blog called The Toad Stool offers the unique insights of Tangerine Toad, a NYC-based copywriter and self-described “Student of the Absurd.” In this post, Toad talks about Gino Bona, the dude who’s written the Joe Pytka-directed NFL spot, and why some creatives get stuck at the Big Dumb Agencies: At the ToadStool, we’ve […]

The New York Times explores Microsoft’s attempt to “go viral” with its new operating system, Vista. Marketers are turning to unusual, often little-known personalities who offer the kind of novelty and freshness that young people might blog about, link to and comment on in chats: in other words, make viral on the Internet. Demetri Martin […]

The New York Times points out another case of ad creep. At more than 40 colleges around the country, basket stanchion support arms are being used as messaging platforms. The signs, one at each end of the court, are perpendicular to the backboards; they bear the words “State Farm” and the familiar red-and-white logo of […]

I love a good analogy. And in describing the current desire of marketers to precisely target messages at specific consumers, Teressa Iezzi, writing in Ad Age, comes up with a good one: I heard a media expert say this on a panel a while back: “If I’m a dog-food maker I am now able to […]

Years ago, McDonald’s relied on creative franchisees to concoct new items in the back of their kitchens. Restaurant owners invented the Big Mac, the Egg McMuffin and other favorites. Those days are long gone. Today a chef trained at Culinary Institute of America devises new menu items for the quick serve giant. The Wall Street […]